CAIRO—As a day of clashes that left dozens more Egyptians dead turned to night, the country's teeming capital fell quiet—with downtown streets almost stripped of traffic, new security checkpoints going up on major roads and civilians seen patrolling their neighborhoods against what they said was the threat of Muslim Brotherhood protesters.

"We're looking for terrorists," said one of these civilians, as he popped open car trunks in downtown Cairo as Egypt's military curfew approached.

Civilian members of so-called popular committees like this one—created amid Egypt's upheaval to patrol their neighborhoods—sprung to duty Friday evening, carrying poles and sometimes guns.

But the rise of the popular committees illustrates how little faith Egyptian civilians have in the ability of the country's security forces to protect them, raising the dangerous possibility that the police and military are losing legitimacy in the eyes of the people, whether antigovernment or pro-government supporters. The police on Thursday urged Egyptians not to form popular committees, saying they were capable of protecting the people.

At up to a half-dozen points in the city before dusk, members of several of these bands could be seen breaking up sidewalks and piling up the debris to create checkpoints to stop strangers from entering their neighborhoods.

ENLARGE

A woman takes cover between barricades on the 6 October Bridge in Cairo, as gunfire rang out Friday amid ongoing clashes between the military and Islamist protesters.
Zuma Press

That capped what Muslim Brotherhood protesters called a Day of Rage—called to mourn the dead after Egyptian security forces cracked down Wednesday on supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, leaving more than 600 people dead.

Across Egypt, at least 80 people died in violence between security forces and protesters on Friday, while 1,004 were arrested—more than half in Cairo —state television reported.

By nightfall, some 400 protesters at Ramses Square had sought refuge in the mosque there, worried about venturing home and facing arrest on Cairo's streets. On Saturday morning the protesters were still camped out in the mosque, despite being tear-gassed by police, who entered the mosque to try to convince those inside to leave. Riot police surrounded the mosque, images from state media showed.

Clashes between pro-Brotherhood protesters and security forces killed eight people in the Mediterranean coastal town of Damietta, with several others killed in the Suez Canal town of Ismailia; in Fayoum, south of Cairo; and in Tanta, in the Nile Delta.

Protesters who support ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi transport injured people during clashes at Ramses Square in Cairo on Friday. Reuters

The government didn't offer any statistics about a death toll in the capital, where the largest protests occurred—and where witness accounts of the toll appeared to outstrip the state figures.

Analysis

Much of today's violence in Egypt can be attributed to the Muslim Brotherhood's "day of rage." Who is the Muslim Brotherhood? Mirette Mabrouk, deputy director at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Harari Center for the Middle East, joins the News Hub. Photo: AP.

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At least 31 bodies were viewed in the late afternoon in a mosque-turned-makeshift-morgue on central Cairo's Ramses Square after protesters drew fire from a police station there. The square was the center of protests on Friday, after supporters of Mr. Morsi gathered at 28 mosques across greater Cairo to attend noon prayers before converging on the square.

Map: See Where Clashes Have Occurred

Timeline: Egypt in Transition

Skirmishes continued in the afternoon around the square, underscoring how the Muslim Brotherhood protesters are being opposed not only by Egypt's security forces, but also apparently by citizens.

Late Friday afternoon, with several thousand Muslim Brotherhood marchers already gathered on Ramses Square, other marchers could be seen on two nearby bridges, attempting to reach the area. One of the protest groups appeared to come under fire from buildings in the neighborhood, and could be seen throwing Molotov cocktails in return.

On Thursday, Egypt's security forces were issued live ammunition and orders to protect the nation and government buildings from what the military-led government call "terrorist" acts. Security forces reaffirmed Friday that they would deal harshly with any violations of the law, according to a statement that ran on Egyptian state television.

As Friday's curfew hour passed, protesters at Ramses Square continued to demonstrate. A fire broke out in the upper floors of a nearby commercial building at about 8 p.m., later spreading to a medical center. It wasn't clear how it started.

The Brotherhood-led Anti-Coup Alliance later called on supporters to withdraw from the streets after nighttime prayers to "preserve human lives and reassure that our peacefulness is our strength."

Earlier Friday, the alliance called for a week of protests to oust the military's powerful chief, Gen. Abdel Fattah Al Sisi.

One of the marches that reached Ramses Square on Friday started after noon prayers at the Nour Mosque in the Abassiya district of Cairo. There, Brotherhood supporters mourned those who were killed earlier in the week during the clashes at Raba'a al Adiwiya and Nahda squares. As in many other mosques, a heated sermon riled emotions.

"We hope for quick investigations about the massacres that happened, or else curses from heavens and earth will fall on us," the imam of the mosque said over a loudspeaker. "God, please make Egypt an Islamic state, support freedom on earth, destroy tyrants and destroy the media that is supported by tyrants."

Such sentiments met stiff opposition at close range. Residents of Abassiya, which is also home to Egypt's Ministry of Defense, grumbled about the Brotherhood. "Tell Obama the truth—we don't accept this terrorism!" said one onlooker, as a group of about 50 men lined the sidewalk behind him, glaring toward the mosque.

Afterward, about 300 Brotherhood supporters descended the Nour Mosque's steep steps to march toward Ramses Square, a few miles away.

"Either we die like they did [in Raba'a] or we get revenge for our martyrs!" the crowd chanted. "Down with the military, the police are thugs!"

"It's going to be Islamic despite the secularists!" the crowd continued.

Some secularists, too, joined the protests, concerned over the preservation of a democratic system they shed blood to achieve during the 2011 revolution.

Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood began demonstrating across Cairo after Friday prayers, as tensions continued to rise in the country after hundreds were killed in a crackdown on pro-Morsi demonstrators.

"I don't support the Brotherhood but my vote was violated," said Youssef Mahmoud, a clean-shaven 23-year-old student. "I came here for democracy."

The group from Nour Mosque reached Ramses Square, joining other streams to form a crowd of several thousand people.

At around 2 p.m., as part of the crowd moved toward a police station on the square, a few young boys started throwing rocks. Other protesters tried to stop them. Then came the sound of gunfire—swiftly, without apparent warning or the use of tear gas, a typical crowd-control measure.

Hundreds of protesters stampeded down a bridge, one of the many that crisscross above Ramses Square.

By around 3:30 p.m., the nearby Al Fatah Mosque had received dozens of injured and dead. At least 31 bodies, many apparently dead from gunshot wounds, could be seen laid out on the mosque's green-carpeted floor. More bodies were brought in on planks or the seats of wooden benches, which had been turned into emergency gurneys.

Volunteer medical staff struggled to get dozens of injured out of the square, where they could receive medical attention. Fights broke out at the mosque's blood stained steps as friends and family members tried to enter to check if their loved ones were there.

Inside the mosque, volunteer doctors performed simple surgeries or administered CPR. The white coats and abayas of the doctors and nurses were stained with blood and iodine. Piles of medicine lay atop two broad tables.

One medic vigorously pumped down on a dying protester's chest, the right side of his face swollen with the bullet lodged in his head, open flesh revealing brain matter. Cotton swabs soaked in blood circled his head.

The medic tried to revive the man's heart for a few minutes, finally placing his hands on the floor, dropping his head. "It's done," the medic said. Onlookers began to wail.

Nearby, Ahmed Tharwat, 23 years old, cried as he looked at the body of his dead friend, covered with a white sheet but his face exposed.

Mr. Tharwat said he and the friend, Mohammed, had been helping a man wounded by birdshot, creating makeshift tourniquets out of ripped shirts. Mohammed turned to him and said "I'm going to go become a martyr," Ahmed recalled.

Shortly afterward, Mohammed was shot and taken to the mosque, dead upon arrival.

"They are mercilessly shooting us," Mr. Tharwat said.

Back in the streets of Ramses Square, a crowd turned on a man in civilian clothes, alleging he was with Egyptian security forces and had shot into the crowd.

Several protesters were seen hitting him with poles while others tried to protect him. His bloodied body was retrieved by some protesters, his head swaying side to side, unconscious. It was unclear whether he was dead, or where he was being taken.

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